Mounting for fragile finials



Feb. 23, 1943 A, KOCH MOUNTING FOR FRAGILE FINIALS Filed March 19, 1941 TT% AF b L 25 AL I L L 29 29 26 I 49 n M v INVENTOR ARTHUR KocH ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 23, 1943 will? TES @FFICE MOUNTING FOR. FRAGILE FINIALS Arthur Koch, Ozone Park, N. Y., assignor to The Little-J ones Company, Inc., New York, N. Y.

2 Claims.

This invention relates to finials in general and to fragile lamp-'finials in particular.

Lamp-shades are frequently supported by means of arms forming a central eye. The latter is passed over a threaded bolt projecting from the lamp-post. The shade is secured to the lamp by means of a. nut which engages the threaded bolt.

The taste of the trade and the commands of fashion make it necessary to adorn the shadesecuring nut so as to form an ornamental finial. Thin, wafer-like disks carved out of fragile soapstone and the like are appreciated ornaments for lamp finials.

These delicate soap-stone finials present special problems. The soap-stone ornament being much larger than the nut to which it is secured, presents a natural handle. Experience has shown that most persons instinctively grip the large soap-stone ornament when fastening the finial nut to the lamp. As a result, the delicate ornaments of soap-stone or the like are frequently broken or wrenched off the nut.

Breakage is often caused while straightening the ornament. After the nut has been turned all the way down on its bolt, it often happens that the ornament carried by the nut does not face straight forward. Attempts to straighten the ornament almost invariably result in breakage due to the inability of the nut to turn beyond the last thread on the supporting bolt. The present invention overcomes these disadvantages and produces several improvements as will become apparent from the following description.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is shown, by Way of example, in the accompanying drawing, in which-- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the finial nut;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the finial nut before its assembly;

Fig. 4 illustrates the fastening means used for securing the ornament to the nut; and

Fig. 5 shows the finished finial as affixed to a lamp.

The finial according to the present invention comprises the locking element or nut III and ornamental disk I I, consisting for instance of delicately carved soap-stone. Element Ill consists of a lower part I2 and an upper carrier part I3. Part I2 is provided with a threaded bore I4 at its lower end and a peripheral rim I5 at its upper end. The carrier part l3 supports the ornamental disk II. Carrier part I3 is rotatably supported in cavity I6 formed by rim I5. Part I3 is held in position by the inwardly turned rim I5 as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. In order to lessen the friction between the bottom surface of carrier is and the bottom of cavity I6, the carrier I3 is provided with a central depression I'I. Due to this construction, carrier I3 rests in the cavity I6 only on the annular rim I8. On its outside, part I2 is provided with three annular projections I9 which are knurled to afford a convenient grip when securing the finial to the lamp post.

Nut element Ill may be assembled as shown in Fig. 3. Rim I5 of part I2 is first given an upright position to permit insertion of carrier element I 3. After the latter element is in place, rim I5 is turned inwardly on a lathe or otherwise, in order to permanently connect parts I2 and I3. li=art I3 is thus freely rotatably mounted in part Ornamental disk II is provided with an aperture 20 through which wire 2I is threaded. The free ends of wire 2I are twisted together and inserted into cavity 22 of carrier element I3 where they are afiixed by soldering or the like in the position shown in Fig. 4. A small heap of solder 23 is deposited in cavity 22 and about wire 2| on both sides of disk II, right up to aperture 20, to firmly secure .disk II to carrier I3. Due to this construction, the fragile disk II may be turned freely with respect to the lower part I2 of nut element l0. Cavity 22 is preferably so dimensioned that the lower part of disk II projects into the same. This mounting gives additional strength to the finial. If desired, the interconnected nut element l0 and ornamental disk II may be placed in a gold plating bath to give the solder and all other metallic parts a final finish.

Fig. 5 shows the finished finial fastened to lamp 24 which is supported on lamp-post 25. At the top of lamp-post 25, a threaded bolt 26 is provided which projects through ring 21. The latter carries shade 28 by means of arms 29. Shade 28 is securely held in place on lamp-post 25 by the nut element I0 of the finial. A reduction element 30 may be inserted in bore I4 of nut element ID as shown in Fig. 2.

The finial is fastened to the lamp, by gripping the knurled surfaces I9, inserting the threaded bolt 26 into the threaded bore M of nut element l0 and screwing the same together.

The knurled rings I9 present a clearly recognizable grip. If a person nevertheless grips the fragile, ornamental disk II of soap-stone or the like, the same will turn with respect to element l 2 without injury. After the finial has been fastened to the lamp, it is possible to turn the ornamental disk to make it face in any direction desired without turning the nut or disturbing the lamp.

I claim:

1. A lamp finial comprising, in combination, a relatively fragile ornament, a carrier provided with a depression, a wire extending through an aperture in said ornament, the free ends of said wire being twisted together, the twisted ends of the wire being disposed in said depression and soldered to said carrier, said fragile ornament forming a rigid part of said carrier, a locking element provided with knurled, external gripping means and a threaded bore at one end, said locking element being provided with a rim at the opposite end, said carrier being disposed in the cavity formed by said rim on said locking element, said carrier being provided with a periphera1 constriction and said rim projecting into said constriction to permanently interconnect said carrier and locking element, said carrier, being freely rotatable with respect to said locking element, the latter serving as a nut adapted to engage a threaded bolt on the lamp to which the finial is to be attached, whereby, when the fragile ornament is turned, the carrier is moved along and revolves jointly with the fragile ornament relative to the said locking element which is subjected to no torque on movement of said fragile ornament.

2. The device claimed in claim 1, in which said carrier is provided with a peripheral ring at its bottom surface to reduce the frictional contact between the carrier and the locking element and said depression in the carrier is of prede termined dimension in relation to said fragile ornament, the latter projecting into said depression, whereby a firm connection between the fragile ornament and said carrier is produced.

ARTHUR KOCH. 

